Art of felting and product



Patented 20, .1940

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE .m'r or" rem-me AND raonuc'r Jack I). Sartakolf, Elmhurst, Long Island, N. Y., assignor to No-Mercury Felt Corporation, a

corporation of New York No Drawing, Application April 1, 1931,

Serial No. 134,309

Claims.

1 complete satisfaction, while other furs, of the same kind and apparently of the same character, produce relatively poor felts. This fact is well recognized in the art and, in the making of hats and more particularly hats of the cheaper grade, it has become the practice to make the felt from a mixture of different furs, which may all be of the same kind of animal, but of better and inferior grades, largely predicated upon their f'eltability. In this way furs of low feltability have been utilized when admixed withfurs of good feltability.

There has, however, long been a need for practical means of improving the feltability of those furs which do not propertly felt, but, prior to the present invention, no attempt has been made to solve this problem and no solution was known.

I have engaged in extensive research and experimentation with pelts of thecharacter described. By pelts I means the skin with the hair thereon. I conducted numerous tests to determine the reason why certain furs felt properly, while others are inferior from this standpoint. While analyzing the effect of the different constituents of the pelts on the feltability of fur, I examined in particular the fatty substance, the presence of which is quite noticeable on-certain furs. I found that the skin of the pelts contained small glands or ducts from which said substance was secreted to the hair in the natural function of the animal, when alive. This fatty substance was thus found to be present in both'the skin and on the hair and, in many instances, there was sufiicient quantity on the hair to be readily apparent to the eye while the hair had a fatty or greasy feel to the touch.

I extracted quantities of this, fatty substance from both the hair and from the skin, and I found it to be a deep yellow compound with an obnoxious odor. I further found that this compound comprised two main components, one of which had all the characteristics of a grease, did nothave any effect on feltability and, in fact, when present in too great quantity, necessitated degreasing before felting. The other component was a wax-like substance, without particular odor and having a light straw color and I found that tfii was the component which determined feltab y.

Said wax-like substance has heretofore been unknown to the, art and I believe I am the first .to isolate it. It has no-technical name, so far as I am aware, and for the want of better terminology, I shall hereinafter refer to such substance as pelt wax. The said pelt wax has certain physical-chemical characteristics whereby it can be readily recognized. It has a melting point of approximately 64 C. and a solidification point of approximately 61.5 C. It is solid at room temperature and readily soluble in warm .acetone (above 20 C.) below the point of saturation and is precipitated from solution upon cooling thereof to room temperature. When isolated by precipitation, followed by purification and filtration, it'collects in the filter in the form of pure white solid particles of wax-like structure without particular odor. When melted, it forms a mobile liquid and upon solidifying takes the form of a fairly hard wax-like substance of substantially straw color.

Having obtained the pelt wax referred to, numerous tests were made in which said substance was utilized in the art of felting. These tests resulted in several conclusions. For example, it was found that, if fur of a character whichwould properly feltwas divested of the pelt wax, it would-not felt satisfactorily, but that, if a quantity of the so-called pelt wax were artificially added to the fur, it would then properly felt. Further tests showed that, if a quantity of this pelt wax was artificially added to furs which would not properly felt, they would thereafter produce very satisfactory felts. It was further found that, if a quantity of such pelt wax were artificially added to already felted furs, as, for example, in the finishing operation, a much finer finish resulted with a complete absence of that so-called mushy condition which is not infrequently found in felts. It was also found that the artificial addition of the pelt wax, as stated, materially improved the body and luster of the felt even though the felt already naturally contained appreciable residual fatty substance of the character described. I

The tests referred to thoroughly demonstrated, therefore, that the presence or absence of pelt wax has a decisive bearing upon the feltability of fur and that the feltability of a relatively low grade fur can be made satisfactory by enrichto of a sufficient quantity of pelt wax to make up for the natural deficiency of the fur therein.

The pelt wax may be artificially added to the fur at any one or more of the various stages, hereinafter described, and through which the fur is passed in the process of making and finishing or refinishing a hat. Inf-act, very satisfactory results were obtained when it was added to deficient furs duringthe carroting operation by addition of the pelt wax to the carroting solution; either by dissolving it in a suitable solvent or by placing it in an emulsion which was added to the carroting solution. Furs thus treated produced entirely satisfactory felts.

The pelt wax described may be obtained from the whole of the pelt or from parts thereof. That is to say it may be obtained from the hair alone or from the skin alone or from both and it may be obtained from the so-called shreds, sometimes referred to as excelsior, which result from the operation of cutting the hair from the skin. In this operation the hair is cut from the skin in such way as to cut the skin into narrow strips which heretofore have constituted a waste product. These shreds contain the ducts or blands from which the fatty substance is secret,-

ed to the hair and this fatty substance may be obtained therefrom, as will be hereinafter more fully described.

I am aware that the present invention may be practised in various ways and that the pelt wax may be obtained from various sources as stated, and, for the purpose of concrete illustration, I shall describe in detail various practical applications of the invention without intending, however, to limit the invention to the specific details therein set forth.

Example 1.The pelt wax was obtained from shreds by first extracting the fatty substance with carbon tetrachloride as a solvent. This solvent dissolved the fatty substance from the caused'these particles to assume a snow-white color. The acetone was thereupon distilled off leaving the pelt wax in substantially pure state.

This product was melted and found to have a melting point of approximately 64 C. and when' subsequently cooled was found to solidify at 615 C. It had a light straw color and appeared to all ordinary tests to be a wax-like substance and to possess the general characteristics of a hard wax.

Instead of employing carbon tetrachloride as an extracting solvent for the fatty substance, alcohol, benzene, benzol, tetrachloroethane or any other suitable extracting solvent may be employed in the extracting operation.

Example 2.-'-Shreds were extracted in suitable extraction apparatus with warm acetone as a solvent for the natural fatty substance therein. Thereafter the solution was cooled. Upon cooling a precipitate formed which was filtered off and found to'constitute solid particles of the pelt wax. The greasy component of the natural fatty substance went off with the filtrate. Successive results.

washings with cold acetone give the filtered particles a snow-white color. The acetone was distilled off leaving the pelt wax in apparently pure state. It was .found to have the same properties as in the previous example.

I have hereinbefore referred to the use of suitable solvents by which to obtain the fatty substance from the entire pelt or from various parts thereof. Carbon tetrachloride is one of the solvents which has been mentioned and this, as well as other solvents, give thoroughly satisfactory They require, however, in most cases, that the solvent employed be distilled off before undertaking the steps of isolating the pelt wax from the residue. This step can be satisfactorily dispensed with if I employ a solvent such as acetone which has the property of acting as a solvent upon the whole of the fatty substance while in warm condition, but serving to precipitate out the pelt wax upon cooling. According to this procedure substantially complete removal of the extracting solvent is rendered unnecessary and the process may be more economically practised than when one solvent is employed for extraction and a different solvent used for precipitation. I do not, however, intend to limit myself in this regard as the process is thoroughly operative when carried out in either way. Practical considerations of production will dictate the course best adapted for particular installations.

Example 3.--The pelt wax was obtained from the entire pelt or from the hair thereon, instead of from the shreds, by carrying out the steps enumerated in either Examples 1 or 2.

Example 4.Shreds were boiled in water contained in a vessel. It was found that a stratum accumulated above the surface of the water. This stratum was skimmed off or decanted and was found to consist of the natural fatty substance of the shreds. The pelt wax was isolated from this fatty substance in accordance with either of the foregoing examples.

Example 5.--By way of further example, the natural fatty substance may be obtained as a byproduct in the manufacture of glue or gelatin from shreds and wherein the shreds are boiled in a kettle. The fatty substance referred to forms a surface stratification layer and may be skimmed off as in the preceding example and used as a source of supply for the pelt wax which may be isolated therefrom in any suitable way.

I have hereinbefore referred to warm" acetone as a solvent for said fatty substance. The temperature at which the acetone is used in this connection, is not critical, but should be sufficient to render it a solvent for both the pelt wax and the greasy constituents of said fatty substance. I have conveniently operated in this connection with acetone warmed to above 20 C. As the resulting solution is cooled to room temperature the precipitation to which I have referred occurs. This cooling may be natural or artificially produced.

Example 6.Pelt wax was also obtained from the entire pelt or from the hair or shreds by dissolving out the natural fatty substance thereof with alcohol heated sufficiently to dissolve such substance, and thereafter cooling the resulting solution to precipitate out the pelt wax. The best results were obtained when anhydrous alcohol was used in this connection.

Example 7.Pelts, rich in the fatty substance referred to, were tumbled in a drum containing sawdust and a quantity of this fatty substance was thus removed from the pelts and taken up by the sawdust. The sawdust was removed and -washed with a solvent to dissolve out the fatty substance therefrom and thereafter the pelt wax was isolated therefrom by precipitation, as hereinbefore described. i

Example 8.--Pelt wax may also be isolated from the natural fatty substance removed from pelts or .parts thereof in any of ways hereinbefore described by subjecting such natural fatty substance to the pressure of a-hydraulic press to expel the liquid grease component and leave the solid pelt wax component in the press. Traces of the grease which remain in the wax when so isolated'may be removed by'washing in any one of several ways, such, for example, by washing with solvents for the grease compo--' nent.

The pelt wax, obtained as specified, or in any other equivalent manner, has been employed by me in various ways. For example, I have added a quantity of this pelt wax to a conventional carroting solution before using the same on fur. The addition of the pelt wax to the carrot has been satisfactorily accomplished by making a solution thereof in a suitable solvent, compatible with the carroting solution, and then introducing it into the carroting solution, but I have obtained very good results by first putting the pelt wax into solution with .warm acetone, and thereafter forming an aqueous emulsion thereof. After the solution was formed water was added, either hot or cold, and the emulsion formed. This resulting emulsion was found to be a highly satisfactory vehicle for the pelt wax. It was readily introduced in this form into a carroting solution as it was compatible therewith. If the emulsion, produced as stated, was prepared in advance and stored until used, I added nitric or sulphuric acid in just sufficient quantities to render the emulsion acid and found that the emulsion remained stable until used. The quantity of pelt wax added to the carrot depends upon the character of the fur't'o which the carrot is to be anstantially inverse relation to. such deficiency, so

that such deficiency may be compensated for in order to insure proper feltability of the fur." It will of course be understood that, when the pelt wax is added to the fur, during the carroting' thereof, this wax will subsequently melt and distribute over the fur, during the felting operation,

in which the hot water is used at a temperature which is conventionally above the melting point of the pelt wax. Experience has demonstrated that furs, carroted in this manner; will show a marked improvement in feltability over like furs to which the pelt wax has not been added.

A solution or emulsion of pelt wax may be added to advantage at subsequent stages in the felting, forming or finishing operations. It may be incorporated in the felt during the process of making the body of a hat or in the finishing stages. If incorporated during the process of making the hat body, I recommend its addition in the sizing stage'or after the blocking stage. If used in the blocking stage, it is preferably introduced after the hat has been blocked and dried and before pouncing. If used in the finishing stage, it may be incorporated into the felt prior to ironing thereof. In the latter case, the

.heat of the ironing operation will cause the artificialiy added pelt wax to fiow and permeate the felt. When thus used,the luster and body of the felt are materially enhanced.

In the foregoing detailed despription I have referred to the application of t e pelt wax to the fur either before, during or fter thefelting operation thereof, or in the fin g stages of hat manufacture. It is also within the scope of this invention to add pelt wax either in emulsion or in solution to felts during the refinishing thereof, as in the step of refinishing or renovating hats. v e

I have noted a marked'aflinity between the pelt wax of this invention and natural furs ,of the character described, particularly where such pelt wax is brought into contact with the fur or felt in the form of an emulsion or solution. The pelt wax appears to quickly leave the emulsion or solution and collect upon-the fur fibers, forming a relatively strong bond therewith. When heat is subsequently applied at temperatures above the melting point of the pelt wax, it ap-, pears to return to its natural relationship with the hair and form an inherent part thereof, acting, apparently, as a natural bonding agent between the matted and felted hairs in'the felt so .that the felt is strong, firm and durable,

In the appended claims, reference-is made to "pelts" as a source of the peltwax and the natural fatty substance hereinbefore described. The term pelts, as thus used, is to be understoodas generically including the whole or any particular part of the pelt, such as the skin or-hair portions thereof, or both, or shreds or remnants.

In the method of this invention, as thus far described, the natural fatty substance of the fur isremoved from the fur and the pelt wax thereafter isolated therefrom, so as to obtain 'this product. in quantities which may be artificially added to furs for felting. I have, however, encountered instances wherein furs contained such a large quantity of natural fatty substances, that they required degreasing before they can be used to make satisfactory felts. I have found it possible to satisfactorily treat these furs so as to remove the greasy constituents thereof without removing the pelt wax constituent thereof. I

have also found it possible to treat'in like man-. ner furs which did not carry an excess amount As illustrative of the manner in which I ac-'- 'complish these results, the following examples I are given.

Example 9.The pelts may be soaked in cold acetone in a closed vessel until the greasy constituents of the residual fatty substance are dissolved by the acetone. The-residual pelt wax will not dissolve but will remain on the fur. The acetone may be drawn off with the grease in solution and a vacuummay then be applied to dry the skin and collect the remainder of the acetone. The acetone may be recovered for reuse. This procedure leaves the wax on the pelt, but removes the greasy substance naturally associated therewith. f

Example 10.Pelts may be soaked in cold acetone in an enclosed jacketed vessel. Steam may be applied to heat the vessel and warm the acetone to a temperature (above 20 C.) to dissolve all the grease and pelt wax in the pelts. The vesselmay, to advantage, be of the refluxing type. After the natural fats have been dissolved, as stated, the steam may be shut off and cooling water circulated through the jacket. This will cool the solvent and cause the pelt wax to be precipitated on the pelt leaving the greasy substance in the solution which is drained ofl. The

to the pelt, the pelt wax is caused to fiowand re-distribute itself over the hairs of the pelt.

Example 11.-The pelts may be put in a drum with sawdust wetted with acetone. The drum is tumbled at room temperature and it will be found that the greasy constituent of the natural fats of the pelts are freed from the fur and taken up by the sawdust, leaving the pelt wax on the fur.

In each of Examples 9, 10 and 11, the pelt wax which was on the pelts at the beginning remains there at the end, but the grease has been removed. If such pelt has sufficient pelt wax to properly felt, no artificial addition of pelt wax is necessary, but if such pelt is deficient in pelt wax, this deficiency may be made up by the artificial addition of further pelt wax thereto, as will -be understood and this artificial addition may be made at any of the stages of hat making, hereinbefore referred to.

It is of course well known in the art that certain furs contain such quantities of the natural fatty substance that in practice it has been common to remove quantities thereof chemically or by tumbling with sawdust. When the furs are degreased in either of these ways, appreciable portions of the natural fatty substance are removed carrying with it, not only the undesirable greasy constituent, but also appreciable quantities of the desirable pelt wax. In accordance with the present invention, however, the degreasing can be carried out without removing the pelt wax component and consequently without diminishing the feltability of the fur.

An important feature of the present invention is that the artificial addition of pelt wax, as hereinbefore described, does not constitute any adulteration of the pelts or of the felts to which the pelt wax is artificially applied. On the contrary, the present invention contemplates the addition to the pelt or felt of one of the constituents which is naturally therein and thus constitutes an enriching of the fur through an artificial addition of one of its natural components. So far as I am aware I am the first to thus enrich fur as a step in the art of felting.

The foregoing detailed description sets forth the invention in illustrative practical forms. but the invention is to be understood as fully commensurate with the appended claims.

The-term pelt wax, as hereinbefore described and as used in the appended claims, is to be understood to 'mean the wax component of the fatty substance secreted from the skin and fur of rabbits and hares and from which the greasy components of the fatty substances have been removed, to leave such pelt wax as a non-greasy, wax-like substance. It is not to be confused with lanolin, which is'obtained from wool fat or wool .has been separated from the grease component of the fatty substance from which it is produced.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The method which comprises enriching fur by artificially adding pelt wax thereto.

2. The method which comprises enriching fur by artifically adding pelt wax thereto, and thereafter melting the added wax on the fur by the application of heat thereto.

3. The method which comprises enriching partially felted fur by artificially adding pelt wax thereto.

4. The method which comprises enriching a felted fur by artificially adding pelt wax thereto.

5. The method which comprises enriching a felted fur by artificially adding pelt wax thereto, and thereafter melting the added pelt wax on the felted fur by the application of heat thereto.

6. The method which comprises enriching fur by carroting the fur with a carroting solution containing pelt wax.

7. The method which comprises removing the natural fatty substance from pelts-and isolating from said fatty substance, the pelt wax component thereof, and applying the resulting pelt wax to fur.

8. The method which comprises removing the natural fatty substance from pelts, isolating from said fatty substance the pelt wax component thereof, and applying the resulting pelt wax to fur prior to the felting thereof.

9. The method which comprises removing the natural fatty substance from pelts, isolating from said fatty substance the pelt wax component thereof, carroting fur and adding pelt wax thus obtained to the fur during the carroting operation.

10. The method which comprises removing the natural fatty substance from pelts, isolating from said fatty substance the pelt wax component thereof, felting fur, and applying pelt wax thus obtained to such fur during the felting thereof.

11. The method which comprises removing the natural fatty substance from pelts, isolating from said fatty substance the pelt wax component thereof, felting fur, and applying pelt wax thus obtained to the felted fur.

, 12. The method which comprises removing the natural fatty substance from pelts, isolating from said fatty substance the pelt wax component thereof, felting fur, applying pelt wax thus obtained to the felted fur, and thereafter subjecting the felted fur to a temperature above the melting point of the pelt wax.

13. The method which comprises removing natural fatty substance from pelts, isolating the pelt wax therefrom, forming an emulsion of said pelt wax, and thereafter applying the emulsion to fur.

14. The method of improving the feltability of fur which comprises artificially adding pelt wax thereto.

15. A carroting solution containing pelt wax.

JACK D. SARTAKOFF. 

